AutoCAD Plant 3D

01/23/2017

As you build up the complexity of your AutoCAD Plant 3D model, you need to be thinking about things like XREFs, model complexity, networked files, computer hardware, etc. These are examples of things that can negatively affect modelling performance in Plant 3D if you aren’t careful. In this post I am going to take a look at how to use vendor supplied equipment models so they have a minimal impact on modelling performance in Plant 3D.

In many cases you will have access to detailed CAD models of the equipment used in your projects. But manufacturing CAD models of pumps, heat exchangers, even vessels, etc. will have much more detail than is necessary in Plant. Resist the urge to import these models in full detail; Equipment needs to be represented accurately but should be shown with much simpler models than those normally provided by manufacturers. Using highly detailed models will quickly decrease modelling performance in Plant 3D and become a constant frustration.

The good news is that there are a number of ways to create equipment in Plant. Using the equipment builder is a great option to create your own simplified representation of any piece of equipment. On the down side, it can be a tedious and sometimes difficult process to build equipment and arrange nozzles in their correct locations.

You could also insert a 3D block or AutoCAD solid into your model and convert it into a Plant object. This is a good method if you have a simplified model in a DWG format already. Finally, you can use Inventor to work with equipment models (and specify their connection information) to simplify designs and bring them into Plant through Inventor’s BIM Exchange environment.

Let’s work with Inventor and the detailed CAD model of the pump (without its drive motor or mounting platform) below which can be downloaded from KSB’s website.

You might be tempted to use this model directly without any changes in Plant since all the information is already present in the model. It’s an attractive option since the model looks great but some simplification is in order to be sure that my pipe modelling won’t be negatively affected.

To simplify this model use Inventor to open the file in the format you receive it. Then use the shrinkwrap tool in the component panel drop-down to create a simplified part that represents the entire pump.

Inventor’s shrinkwrap tools allow a lot of model simplification without much drafting effort. We can select the style options for how parts will be merged, how to remove parts (by visibility or size), how to remove holes and whether or not to remove any internal voids. There are many options here to be sure and all of the selections can reduce the complexity of the assembly and produce a result as a single part file.

The result shown is a very simple model derrived from the original design. By merging the parts and removing holes we have reduced the overall complexity and face count. There is still a lot of unnecessary detail though, like bolt patterns and mounting feet, etc. Let’s take this a step further then.

All we need for our piping design is an accurate nozzle position. So; mounting surfaces, nozzle centers and a generally recognizable pump model are all that is required to route pipe from. If we step back and use some of Inventor’s other simplification tools on the simplify panel we can define overall envelopes (around the gearbox for example) and manually select which parts to include before performing a shrinkwrap.

By taking the shrinkwrapped file and then replacing the more complex geometry with some basic extrude features the model can be simplified further without losing critical information. While the final representation below might feel too simple it is quite good for use in Plant 3D.

The number of features and faces have been reduced to the minimum needed while still representing our pump nozzles accurately. This representation will return the best result in Plant for our pipe model performance but does sacrifice significant detail.

Once the model is simplified, we can use the BIM Exchange environment in Inventor to create connection information so that, when inserted, this pump will be immediately recognized by Plant as a piece of equipment with two nozzles that can connect to a pipe line.

You might end up with a different result than that shown since there are many different ways to simplify a design in Inventor. As you are simplifying your own equipment CAD models think about the compromise between the detail needed in a piece of equipment and the performance of your piping model in Plant.

Resist the temptation to use detailed vendor CAD models directly in Plant 3D. Time will need to be invested in the equipment builder to create new equipment models or in Inventor to remove detail from finished CAD models to prepare them for use in Plant. Whichever method you choose, having simplified representations of your equipment is an essential part of good performing Plant 3D models.

01/17/2017

One of the nice things about using AutoCAD Plant 3D is that there is a wide range of available piping and component catalogs available to help your modelling and documentation efforts. The most common catalogs, such as ASME, AWWA and DIN, come out-of-the-box while many more like Victaulic, Pharma, Grayloc, etc. can be downloaded freely from Autodesk’s App Exchange.

Both the out-of-the-box catalogs and any additional content packs downloaded are added to Plant’s content directory located on your computer at C:\AutoCAD Plant 3D 2017 Content. Unfortunately this is not usually the best location to set as Plant’s content directory if you are working collaboratively.

There are a number of reasons why you may want to set this location to a network folder:

Free up space on the C: of your workstation(s)

Save customized catalog and spec modifications to a central location

Allow multiple project admins or users to see the same catalogs for spec generation

Restrict what content and specs are available to users for modelling by removing unneeded files

With these points in mind, there are a few options available to move this directory off the C drive and onto a network share.

Deployments

If you haven’t created your Plant 3D deployments or installed Plant 3D to your workstations then you can set this content location during deployment creation or installation. This will copy all the default content to the specified folder during installation. Further, all future Plant and downloaded content pack installations will use this folder setting also.

During setup expand the Autodesk AutoCAD Plant 3D 2017 line in the installer and scroll down to the Configurable Folders area.

Inside the content table click the Default text in the Mode column and select Local.

That will allow you to browse for a location or type a path in the Path column.

Hint: Use UNC paths where possible rather than using networked drive letters.

Setting the Content location inside the deployment will copy all the out-of-the-box specs and catalogs to this location and set this path in the registry on each workstation.

AutoCAD Command Line

If you already have Plant installed on multiple workstations and you need to move the content to a new location then you have to run the PLANTMODIFYSHAREDCONTENTFOLDER command from AutoCAD Plant 3D's command line on each workstation. Simply moving or copying the content folder to a different location using Windows Explorer will cause errors to occur inside the Plant application.

To run this command you must run AutoCAD Plant 3D as an Administrator. In Windows right-click on the Plant 3D shortcut and select Run as Administrator or you will run into the following error when trying to run the command.

Once Plant is loaded open any drawing (project or non-project related) and type PLANTMODIFYSHAREDCONTENTFOLDER into the command line.

In the Modify Shared Content Folder dialog box browse to (or type) the network path where the content will be moved to. You also need to select whether or not to copy the content from the existing folder to the new location.

Copying the folder contents only needs to be done on the first workstation. Once content is in the folder leave the option unchecked on subsequent workstation to simply change the Plant 3D configuration.

Click OK to change Plant’s local configuration (for all local users) and, if selected, copy the content to the specified path. Don't forget to delete the old content folder once you have finished.

This method works well if there are a minimal number of machines to change and if the users have administrative privileges to their computer. In larger organizations, with many users or where users do not have admin rights, there is a scripted option that can be used.

Scripted Command Line

The Plant content directory can be changed by creating a batch file and an AutoCAD script file with the proper commands. First, a batch file needs to be created to launch Plant from windows. It can have any name you choose but should contain the following syntax:

The AutoCAD script file has an SCR extension and, like a batch file, is plain text. It can be made using Windows Notepad and named whatever you like, just be sure the name you use is set in the batch file above. The script file should contain the following text:

Filedia 0 – Turns off command dialog boxes

openproject [projectpath]\project.xml – Opens a specified project. Make sure this is a common project all computers have access too.

N – Tells the PLANTMODIFYSHAREDCONTENTFOLDER command not to copy the contents of the current folder. Use Y to copy.

Filedia 1 – Turns command dialog boxes back on

Quit Y – Quits the application without saving changes to the current drawing file loaded.

Make sure to set the paths to those needed for your environment and keep in mind that the batch file will need to be Run as Administrator. Finally, if the Plant license has been borrowed from your license server the script will halt at the borrowed license pop-up. A manual click on the Close button will be required to continue.

This is just one step for setting up AutoCAD Plant 3D for use in a multi-user environment but it is often overlooked. Once your content folder has been changed, running a content pack installer will place the new content in the centralized location. Centralizing the content is important to reduce space used on your system's hard drive and to ensure the proper piping specs and catalogs are being used. Remember to keep an eye on the app exchange as content packs and catalogs are continually added and updated.

01/10/2017

With the release of AutoCAD Plant 3D 2017.1 Plant 3D users on subscription have the ability to tie their 3D piping spec to their P&ID drawings for the first time using Plant 3D’s new spec driven P&ID feature.

After installing the 2017.1 update Plant users will see some small changes to the interface. A new size and spec drop-down selector on the Schematic Line panel (inside your P&ID Workspace) will be visible and a new node in your project manager palette called Pipe Specs will show all the specs defined in the current project.

When placing schematic lines, in the updated Plant environment, the tag values (and the applicable property values) for the size and spec of the schematic line will adopt the values set in the Schematic Line panel's drop-down. Once a schematic line is placed the Assign Tag dialog box will show the selected size and spec used during its placement. All that remains fully tag the line with is service and line number (assuming the out-of-the-box line tag scheme is used).

Whether or not you enable the spec driven P&ID option in your project, these size and spec values will always be set during schematic line placement.

In addition, the Pipe Specs node allows you to create, edit, remove, rename and update specs in your project. It will also allow you to copy specs into the active project much like you would copy a drawing into your project. There are tools to check-in or check-out spec files if you are working with Vaulted projects and the ability to view a piping spec using the spec viewer palette.

These new selections are nice enhancements that allow access to the spec files from inside Plant instead of having to browse a project directory in windows or Vault. The commands are accessed via the right-click menus on the Pipe Specs node or on the individual spec file nodes.

To fully enable the spec driven P&ID features in a project; access the project setup and under P&ID DWG Settings select the Pipe Specs in P&ID node. In the setup page displayed, on the right side, select the Spec Driven Project option.

Once Spec Driven Project is enabled, select the Pipe Spec Object Mapping node to match the spec objects to P&ID symbols and set any property mappings.

To verify that each object in your spec is matched to a P&ID class definition select the component category button for either Lines, Valves, Fittings or Specialty items, respectively.

With the object type displayed (such as valves shown below) select a component in the list of P&ID objects on the left of the panel. Then, on the right hand side add a check mark to the corresponding object from your 3D piping spec file. P&ID objects with no matching spec object will appear as lighter grey text in the P&ID object selection panel.

In most cases your spec objects will automatically be matched to P&ID objects through acquisition rules. This can be seen because the lightning bolt icon is displayed on the bottom right of the page. If desired you may click the lightning bolt and override the spec object class and link P&ID objects to different object category from the piping spec.

The result of this selection is seen on placed components in your P&ID drawings. Matched components will have a Class and Spec Part property value filled out automatically. If there are multiple components of the same type in the piping spec (ie. multiple Globe Valves or Gate Valves, etc.) then the Spec Part property, when selected, displays a drop-down list of the specific components that can be selected from the piping spec.

If the Map checkbox is unchecked in the project setup then there will be a Class property filled but no Spec Part value displayed and no connection to your piping spec will be seen for that component.

Once the applicable components have been matched to you piping spec you will see in your P&ID tool palette which parts are available in the selected piping spec and which are not. Any component that is not available in the selected piping spec will show with a darker grey cross-hatch. This is a quick indicator of your organization's available components when creating your P&ID drawings.

While the hatching is a good indicator of "in spec" parts it can be deceiving. For example; I may have gate valves available in my piping spec and therefore no cross-hatch is shown in the palette. However, if my gate valves start at 4” and get larger then looking at my palette I would not know that I can’t place one on a 2” line. In fact there is nothing to stop me from putting any out of spec component on any line even if the object is hatched in the palette. To find out what symbols are in or out of spec on a drawing we need to use another new-in-2017 tool called the P&ID Painter.

The P&ID Painter was new for the 2017 RTM release of Plant 3D. Included with the 2017.1 update is a new out-of-the-box configuration for the P&ID Painter named Off Spec Piping that can be used to highlight out of spec components in your drawings. The painter will temporarily colorize all the inline components yellow if they are "in spec" and red if they are "off spec". This provides a quick visual guide to help validate that designs are in spec.

As you can see above, by enabling the P&ID Painter, the 4” schematic line and gate valve are “in spec” while my needle valve is “off spec”.

Some final notes about the new spec driven P&ID's feature before you get started:

No update or migration is needed to the spec files to enable the link to P&ID drawings.

Spec driven P&IDs are disabled by default in all existing projects.

The spec driven P&ID feature must be enabled in the project setup.

Set template projects to have the spec driven P&ID feature on or off as desired for new projects.